Vizio E601-A3 Owners Thread - Page 41

I checked my factory default color temps on normal. I don't know what my original ones were that went bad, but on my new replacement my numbers are:
109
107
128
128
128
128

Why mine are different than yours I have no clue. I also looked at my Firmware Version on this replacement set and my Firmware is 1.4.1 , my old set was 1.0.1 on firmware.

I haven't seen anyone posting the Firmware number on their new replacement. Would be interesting to see what firmware Vizio has been shipping with these replacements.

That's weird that yours are different than mine and mine are different than my previous version. I saw where your serial number is 50 and mine 45. My previous set was 30's. My firmware is 1.4.1 although that isn't what it came with it updated itsself the first night I had it. Saw some posts back where a new update might be coming down the line.

Filled out the survey, picked up my first set black friday from walmart, returned 1st set 12/15 due to red vert line on screen, played fine just had a line. 2nd unit plays fine thus far, not remounted yet still on stand, letting it break in longer. Have some issues as described above about tv/receiver/dvr box all come on at the same time and receiver goes to tv when it should stay on dvr, and also prev unit worked on hdmi switch box since my tv was fireplace mounted and fed via 1 hdmi. I switched between dvr and blu ray player via hdmi switch box, worked fine, 2nd unit worked fine then all of a sudden it stopped working with switch box, seemed like it was seeking a signal and would never find it, so I unhooked the switch box and went thru the receiver with hdmis to the display, works fine on stand but won't work for me this way on fireplace. Even tried another hdmi switch box and it partial worked, pictures had like snow at times, tried everything but puzzled, did the tv receive a firmware I am un aware of? Trying to be patient with this set.

I have a Harmony Touch and it works well on mine. I don't have an activity set up specifically for using the smart TV apps. I typically while in whatever activity I'm in go to the Vizio as a device and hit the Via button and enter Netflix or Amazon and navigate while in the TV device then go back to the previous activity so I can control the sound.

I will update this in the tracking thread as well but thought I'd ask here for suggestions in case this is not actually a problem and just a bad setting. I used Montecore's settings and the picture is unbelievable. I watched the Texans game last night in amazement. After the game my wife came down and we settled in for 60 minutes. At one point during an interview the volume seemed to go up and down. I turned the TruVolume control off which fixed the problem-anyone else have this issue? The only other complaint, and it's not really a complaint at this point is that I noticed some slight lip sync issues while watching Law and Order, but only when they did the "brooding closeups" when the character's entire head fills the screen. I should note that I am using the TV speakers and have no immediate plans to upgrade to a soundbar. Do I just need to fool with some settings or do these sound like defect issues? I bought from Costco with the Square Trade Warranty so I don't anticipate any issues with returning it if it comes to that, but would like to avoid having to take it off the wall, box it, up, schlep over there, etc...

I wonder what the chances are this set goes down in price? Ideally I'd like to pay less than 1K for it:)

-Guru

How long are you keeping the box??
Is it needed if I have to return it??
I don't have a lot of extra space and would love to get rid of it.

It is 979.00 at Costco.

I stashed mine in the attic with all of the plastic/styrofoam inside-the receipt/warranty paperwork is in the gun safe with other important papers. Maybe you could collapse the box flat and carefully fold in half along the corrugations? I doubt they'd care that the box had a crease in it. The styrofoam doesn't take up that much room.

Works on my Harmony 700. I select devices, Vizio, then VIA, now I can navigate using the Harmony.

Post your final settings I could not follow your reply.....I would like to try them as well and see if I notice a difference.

Update on my Vizio experience:

Last night we watched the Golden Globes about 12 ft away and was BLOWN AWAY as if you were there participating and watching in the audience....the colors just "popped" off that screen. The sound was INCREDIBLE using just the TV speakers. It was only turned up to 1/8 to 1/4 volume could not stand it any louder. The surround just filled the room.

I also watched 2 NFL playoff games and the natural field was crystal clear and on close up you could see the bare spots in detail. There was ONE football with NO ghosting or soap opera effect. Could even see the details and scratches on a players helmet and stitching on their shoes.

So far I love this TV and display is hard to beat once you find the settings you like for the environment you are in.
Edited by montecore - 1/14/13 at 2:37pm

Totally agree. I live in New Jersey and having grown up in close proximity to NYC I've been there many times. I've always been a "Law and Order" fan but watching on such a large screen in HD makes a like a whole new show. Whereas before if detectives were walking down a street, even on my old 27" Samsung CRT HD set it just looked like some generic city street. Now I can actually recognize where the scenes were filmed because names of stores, street signs, etc...are so clear!

Saw this review on Amazon. I have no idea as to the veracity but there's some interesting nuggets in there!

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: VIZIO E601i-A3 60-inch 1080p 120Hz Razor LED Smart HDTV (Electronics)
I really like this TV overall; for the price, it's tough to beat.

However, there is an issue with audio and video getting out of sync by as much as a full second. I called Vizio tech support and was told that this is a known issue for which they are releasing a firmware update.

"Great, how can I get this update?" I ask.

"We're pushing it out in batches of 1,000 at a time so as not to crash the server. But we sold over 100,000 units on Black Friday alone, so I can't tell you how long it will be before you get it."

"Oh, ok," I said. "Can I just download the update via your website and install it myself?"

"No, sorry; it's not available that way."

So, basically, Vizio knows there is an issue (a pretty major one, too), but they won't even make the firmware update available for manual install. The TV will go to five-stars when this issue is corrected, but who knows how long that will take.

Glad to hear you liked my settings. I too watched 2 NFL games in amazement I could not believe the detail and sound that I was getting.

The volume issue sounds strange are you sure it was not the interview itself? Did the volume go up and stay up or did it oscillate up and down? I have researched TV alot and this will be a new issue if it in deed is true. I would make sure that it repeats itself on different channels and times to isolate. I would turn TruVolume back on and see what happens.

Costco has a fantastic return policy.....make sure you get it there by 90days.....that is the key.....I have heard you can even return without the box.

Where did you get the unit from? Costco will take back the TV without a box. It is always a good idea to hand onto to the box as you are not sure if you will need it.....it already has secure packing and a great design.

My Harmony ONE has a "soft" button for "VIA" that works fine.

By the way, if you have your video devices hooked up to the E601i-A3 (as opposed to an AV receiver with one video connection to the TV), and if you use Harmony "Activities" to switch between your devices, the Harmony seems to have a difficult time accurately switching to the correct TV input. That is because Logitech's Harmony database for the E601i-A3 tries to use a series of button presses to change the input that often fail. It is not documented and not possible with the stock remote, but the E610i-A3 also supports "discrete" input changes. In other words, a single button press (command) is able to change to each input. The Vizio VF550M programming in the Harmony database uses discrete commands that work on the E601i-A3. After Logitech refused to add these discrete commands to the E601i-A3, I just went ahead and added the VF550M to my list of devices as a workaround.

The VF550M also has buttons for "picture-in-picture" and "freeze" features. Out of curiosity, I tried them on my E601i-A3, and they worked, even though those buttons also are not on the stock remote, and those features are not documented as being present on the E610i-A3. So, if you are interested in those features, they can be added to your Harmony remote (and presumably other learning remotes, if you can at least temporarily access a Vizio remote from another TV with those buttons on it).

Also, for Harmony users, I recommend changing the initial TV delay upon power-up to at least 18 seconds. That is about how long it takes the E601i-A3 to boot up, and, if you don't extend the time, the Harmony may try to start sending TV commands that will be ignored.

That is great news for everyone.....but you figure how many of these units went black and were returned so that decreased the total.

I think what happened is that Sharp unloaded a bunch of defective LCD screens in a deal for Vizio to get these out by black friday when everyone would be buying them. This is no different then Mico$oft releasing Operating Systems in BETA and let all the end users find the bugs to make patches. Do you remember the worse OS of all time, Millennium Edition? Everyone was FREAKED out with the y2K bug (year 2000 bug) that they wanted to be protected. Gates made a fortune with this marketing ploy when he took Windows 98 SP2 and tweaked it with a few new features to make it look different. In the end I have seen that edition crash more peoples computers just to make a buck.

I have not experienced that lip sync issue yet. It is a matter of how the firmware is updated......since this is connected to the internet the TV will automatically get updated like the first 24-48hrs when the fw was updated. I do not think it has the ability to handle a manual update. The interesting thing is Vizio knows where these TV's are since the update is automatic not sure how they can tell.

I presume the TVs are programmed to contact a Vizio server periodically to check for updates, and then the server is programmed to send updates to the TVs within certain ranges of MAC addresses when those TVs contact the server, or something like that. I presume if the TV is not hooked up to a network, it may not receive any update. If the Amazon.com post is true, and the fix actually works, that is great news.
Edited by splinke - 1/14/13 at 3:11pm

Yes from Costco-
Maybe I will keep it for another month but then I am dumping it -
Thanks for the replies!

purchased on oct 17th, today the picture went out....i have sound and no picture....

This is likely another LCD panel failure. Here is how things will likely go (based on my own personal experience). Vizio will insist on trying to repair the TV, which means waiting a week for a tech to come to your house and replace the two internal circuit boards and connectors. The tech will put your TV back together, and it still won't work. They will then have to open your TV back up and remove all of the parts they just replaced. Then, you will have to wait for them to submit their report to Vizio, and Vizio will then schedule a replacement, which will be a re-certified unit, as you purchased your TV more than 30 days ago. You will have to wait another week or so for that. Let us know how things go.

Do you have all the motion stuff turned off? I am pretty much sold on this tv as long as the few bugs that these have had get worked out.

-Guru

I don't think what he is saying is true. When I first got the TV, I called tech support and they told me that the TV looks online for an update every X times it is turned on. They said to turn it on for a few minutes and then off for a few minutes, and sure enough, within the hour I saw a dialog box indicating the update had been found.

a more likely version is me returning it to costco since its under 90 days old....hopefully the next one i get will not have this problem

Definitely interested in this TV, but the audio sync issue scares me a bit. I like to play quite a bit of Xbox and can't afford to have an audio delay when shooting my friends online lol. Does the issue still happen if you use an external receiver?

Well, yeah, that is definitely the better option. But don't dilly dally, as today appears to be Day #89 for you!

I think your best short-term bet is running both the audio and video output of the Xbox to your receiver, and then only running the video to your TV from your receiver. Hopefully, the rumored firmware update will fix the problem.

Here's a picture of my set up. Lighting was wacky so the tv picture didn't come out well but trust me I've got this dialed in for me. Soundbar on middle shelf. PS3, Directv HR24 DVR, Xbox 360 on the bottom.

Yes, if the TV is not hooked up to the internet you will not get any updates. That is the whole concept behind a Smart TV = Apps + Internet.